In the week ending Feb. 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial
claims was 496,000, an increase of 22,000 from the previous week's revised
figure of 474,000. The 4-week moving average was 473,750, an increase of 6,000
from the previous week's revised average of 467,750.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during
the week ending Feb. 13 was 4,617,000, an increase of 6,000 from the preceding week's revised
level of 4,611,000. The 4-week moving average was 4,600,750, an increase of 4,250
from the preceding week's revised average of 4,596,500.

The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 5.209 million.

UNADJUSTED DATA

The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted,
totaled 452,468 in the week ending Feb. 20, a decrease of 25,767 from the previous
week. There were 605,668 initial claims in the comparable week in 2009.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.2 percent during the
week ending Feb. 13, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week.
The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs
totaled 5,527,142, a decrease of 70,546 from the preceding week. A year earlier,
the rate was 4.6 percent and the volume was 6,108,398.

Initial claims for UI benefits by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,196 in the week ending Feb. 13, a decrease of 240 from the prior week. There were 2,174 initial claims by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 108 from the preceding week.

There were 24,095 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending Feb. 6, a decrease of 2,215 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 36,429 a decrease of 18 from the prior week.

States reported 5,479,942 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Feb. 6, a decrease of 317,933 from the prior week. There were 1,847,439 claimants in the comparable week in 2009. EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending Feb. 13 were in North Carolina (+5,897), Pennsylvania (+2,813), Kentucky (+2,510), Virginia (+559), and Puerto Rico (+468), while the largest decreases were in California (-5,540), Illinois (-3,858), New York (-2,747), Texas (-2,636), and Missouri (-2,534).

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request. Voice phone: 202-693-4676. TDD Message Phone: 1-800-326-2577.
News releases from the U.S. Department of Labor are accessible on the Internet
at: http://www.dol.gov/ and http://www.ows.doleta.gov/